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Local author Dana Sachs goes Japanese in new novel

Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 5:49 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 5:49 p.m.

Local author Dana Sachs (“If You Lived Here,” “The House on Dream Street,” “The Life We Were Given”) will be giving a preview reading of her new novel, “The Secret of the Nightingale Palace,” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at Cameron Art Museum, 3201 S. 17th St.

As fans know, most of Sachs' work has focused on Vietnam, where she lived for many years as a student and English teacher. “Secret of the Nightingale Palace” — which comes out today (Feb. 19) from William Morrow — is her first with no Vietnamese content.

She hasn't left Asia entirely, though. “Nightingale Palace” follows a young Memphis widow who has to drive her rather high-maintenance Jewish grandmother from New York to San Francisco, on a mysterious mission to return some Japanese prints to their rightful owner.

In flashbacks, we see the grandma, Goldie, as a young woman who travels to San Francisco, finds work in a big department store and becomes friends with a brilliant young Japanese-American artist who designs the store's window displays. Through her, Goldie gets to know her parents, a former Japanese baron and baroness, who maintain the city's Japanese Garden. (From here, things get complicated, and there's a lot of romance …)

In honor of the topic, the Cameron is having Sachs speak in its Japanese print room in the C. Reynolds Brown wing.

Regular museum admission applies: $8 adults, $5 students, seniors and active-duty military: $3 for children. You can tour the exhibits after the talk.

Incidentally, Dana Sachs will be our next guest on Prologue, the StarNews/WHQR book club, coming up March 11 in the WHQR studios. Watch your newspaper for more details.

<p>Local author Dana Sachs (“If You Lived Here,” “The House on Dream Street,” “The Life We Were Given”) will be giving a preview reading of her new novel, “The Secret of the Nightingale Palace,” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9952"><b>Cameron Art Museum</b></a>, 3201 S. 17th St.</p><p>As fans know, most of Sachs' work has focused on Vietnam, where she lived for many years as a student and English teacher. “Secret of the Nightingale Palace” — which comes out today (Feb. 19) from William Morrow — is her first with no Vietnamese content.</p><p>She hasn't left Asia entirely, though. “Nightingale Palace” follows a young Memphis widow who has to drive her rather high-maintenance Jewish grandmother from New York to San Francisco, on a mysterious mission to return some Japanese prints to their rightful owner.</p><p>In flashbacks, we see the grandma, Goldie, as a young woman who travels to San Francisco, finds work in a big department store and becomes friends with a brilliant young Japanese-American artist who designs the store's window displays. Through her, Goldie gets to know her parents, a former Japanese baron and baroness, who maintain the city's Japanese Garden. (From here, things get complicated, and there's a lot of romance …)</p><p>In honor of the topic, the Cameron is having Sachs speak in its Japanese print room in the C. Reynolds Brown wing.</p><p>Regular museum admission applies: $8 adults, $5 students, seniors and active-duty military: $3 for children. You can tour the exhibits after the talk.</p><p>Incidentally, Dana Sachs will be our next guest on Prologue, the StarNews/WHQR book club, coming up March 11 in the WHQR studios. Watch your newspaper for more details.</p>